1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to prepaid phone service and more specifically to a system and method of providing a single prepaid account for both wireline and wireless phone service.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Many individuals use both a wireline telephone, for example a home telephone line, and a wireless telephone or other wireless device for communication. Often different entities, each having different billing strategies, provide service for wireline and wireless services. Subscribers of both kinds of services typically receive separate bills for the respective telephone usage. Further, the separate billing arrangements increase the cost of the overall telephone service for the individual.
With the increased cost of having both a wireline and wireless telephone service, many individuals and families are unable to control their spending for these services. Bad credit risks prevent some people from receiving phone service because of previous payment history. To address some of these concerns, prepaid phone systems have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,485 to Martin et al., discloses a system in which a user can call a server that communicates with the user to identify a telephone terminal and a receive a prepayment for that terminal before the user can make calls. The '485 patent discloses individual methods of setting up a prepayment plan for either a wireline system or a wireless system. However, the '485 patent fails to teach any method or system for combining a single prepaid account for all telephone service needs. The contents of the '458 patent are incorporated herein.
Another group of patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,155, U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,642 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,621, all invented by Castro, teach a method and system for prepayment of telecommunications connections between a first and a second device. Castro discloses a system wherein a group of registered subscribers can prepay a bulk amount of money for telecommunication connection initiated by members of the registered group. This allows the group to obtain preferred calling rates. However, none of the Castro patents discloses any way of providing a simple and easy prepaid system that serves the entire group of telecommunication devices used by many subscribers. The contents of the '155, '642 and '621 patents are incorporated herein by reference.